Los Fresnos CISD instills tighter security measures

By mwatson

Created 10/22/2013 - 3:44pm

POSTED: Tuesday, October 22, 2013 - 3:44pm

UPDATED: Wednesday, October 23, 2013 - 8:30am

BROWNSVILLE, TEXAS (KVEO NEWSCENTER 23) — School security: it's something all parents want to be assured of when they're away from their kids. And Los Fresnos Consolidated Independent School District has the security down pat at Los Fresnos High School:

"It's all for the protection and safety of our students in the district," said Los Fresnos CISD communications and marketing officer Ronnie Zamora. "We want them to feel safe and secure as they come, uh, to our schools everyday, and our parents who drop them off at our school everyday probably feel just as safe as well."

But even the initial check-in is a little bit of a process:

Los Fresnos CISD uses the Raptor system to track all visitors to every campus during school hours. And then, they run the person's identification through their computer, which will then make sure that no one's a registered sex offender...and once everything checks out on the computer, a tag is produced which will allow me to walk around on school grounds.

After the check-in at the parking lot, everyone must buzz to actually get inside the school, because the doors automatically lock during school hours. After this, they must sign in with the receptionist. And just as an extra precaution, security cameras have been installed all around the school.

And while some may think this process is a bit of a hassle, the students seem content with it:

"You know who's coming in and out of the school, you check their IDs and stuff so security is better way tighter," said Los Fresnos High School student Alejandra Cano.

"I think it's perfectly fine. I wake up, I feel safe when I come to school, I don't feel threatened or anything and I leave the school safe," said Los Fresnos High School student Alejandra Moya.

And apparently, the more boring the day is, the better:

"When it comes to safety and security, when nothing happens, that's a good day," said Zamora.